Large gulls are known to eat just about anything and everything they can get hold of. But when you look at it on an individual level then some gulls prefer to get their food at sea, at the beach, on the meadows, in town or at a waste dump.
And then there are large gulls that don’t mind eating a young chick every now and again, even when it’s one of their own species.
Such gulls are specialised chick predators (it takes some skill to snatch a chick from its parents), and they strike within in their own colony.
I have witnessed this on many occasion and am still fascinated seeing an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull eating a Lesser Black-backed Gull chick without hesitation, knowing that it probably has chicks itself.
Today I was able to capture another scene. It’s not for the faint hearted…
IJmuiden, the Netherlands, 12 June 2017.
Gulls to the Horizon 
Very interesting report, I didn’t know such behaviour….
Is a chick preditor able to remain in its colony after devouring a chick of its own group, or will it be expelled?
Hi Valéri,
Chick predators are very common in large gull colonies. They live among all other breeding gulls and are not expelled.
Regards,
Maarten